


Unrepentant

by keerawa



Category: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Backstory, Corporal Punishment, Dom/sub, Gen, Ignored Safeword, Misses Clause Challenge, Yuletide 2015, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-07 19:09:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5467760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keerawa/pseuds/keerawa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Melisande Shahrizai's First Night was a scandal that would would be whispered through Night Court for years to come.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unrepentant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [calenlily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/calenlily/gifts).



> Dear Calenlily - thank you for pinch-hitting! Your Kushiel's Legacy prompt was intriguing. There is mention of an ignored safeword here, very bad BDSM etiquette indeed, but no rape or humiliation.

The priest waited, dressed in his finest robes, the bronze mask of Kushiel a long-familiar weight.

There was a knock at the door to the chamber.  "Enter," he called out.

"Melisande Shahrizai," announced his acolyte.  A young woman strode into the room.  Her face was a pale contrast to her blue-black hair, cheeks streaked with tears that still shone in her eyes.  Her red lips were set in a snarl that made it clear they were tears of fury, rather than the shame or remorse he'd expected.  Melisande was the most stunning thing he'd seen in a decade.

"Sit," he ordered.

With a surly shrug, the girl complied.

"You've brought shame upon your family," he informed her.  "The dowager of Valerian House considers your actions a breach of the Shahrizai contract.  She wants you permanently banned from the Court of Night Blooming Flowers."

"I don't care," she said, eyes on the floor.  "They're all liars."

"Explain."

Melisande glared up at him.  "At the showing at Mandrake, it looked so real.  The Valerian adept submitted completely, and the Mandrake adept gave him so much pleasure in return … but last night, it was just a _game_ to her.  All about whatever I wanted, not what she needed.  She submitted too easily, gave in to me before I could take her."

The priest felt a stirring of alarm.  "You wanted to take her by force?"

"Yes!"  The girl looked away.  "No.  I don't know."

"Perhaps you prefer the way that young Sharizai play with each other," the priest suggested.  "Taking turns tying each other up, biting and clawing, fighting for dominance in the bedroom?  If so, all you need do is be honest about your desires.  Mandrake has adepts that specialize in such things." He had fond memories of a similar friendship, from his own youth.

"No.  I wanted her true submission.  I wanted her to give me – not just her body, but her entire self.  Not because it was easy to yield.  Because she couldn't help herself.  Because I earned it. So I pushed her limits.  I hurt her.  I kept hurting her, more and more, until she gave her _signale_."

"And then?"

Melisande's shoulders drew in.  "And then I hurt her some more.  She was begging, crying," the girl's breath had gone quick with excitement at the memory.  "She thought I wouldn't stop, and she broke.  She was weak, and I _broke_ her, and in that moment she was mine."

The priest met her eyes, and he could see, under the bravado, that Melisande was afraid.  Afraid of her own urges, of what she had done. As well she should be.

"You have violated the precepts of Elua," he said, his voice echoing cold and distant from under the mask, "abused a submissive's trust, and made a mockery of Kushiel's gifts. You shall suffer for it under the whip."

She licked her lips nervously.  "How many stripes?" she asked in a small voice.

"Until I say you are done.  Why?  Are you afraid I'll use you as harshly as you did that Valerian adept?"  He chuckled.  "Make no mistake.  This is no sex play for our mutual enjoyment.  This is punishment."

After she had submitted to her punishment and declined treatment by the temple physician, Melisande reported back to the priest.  She knelt down before him carefully, the thin white linen tunic of a penitent marked with blood.  He could see that she was at the end of her resources, about to collapse from pain and emotion, so he was short and to the point.

"You are young," he told her, "and your family clearly underestimated the strength of Kushiel's call in your blood.  They did not properly prepare you for your First Night. This is the only reason I have been lenient.  By His mercy, you can walk out of the temple tonight.  If you ignore a submissive's _signale_ again, you will not survive His judgment.  Do you understand?"

"Yes," Melisande said quietly.

"You will write a letter of apology to the dowager of Valerian House, and include an outrageously generous patron gift for the adept you harmed."

She nodded her agreement, wincing when even that slight movement awoke the fire of the weals on her back.

"In addition, I will arrange for you to attend one session a week, alternating between Valerian and Mandrake House, for the next year."

There was a pause.  "Before I agree, I need to know the purpose of the sessions."

"Training.  If you think the only way to break a submissive is by the application of more and more pain, you have much to learn about the subtleties of Kushiel's art.  Humiliation, bondage, and the granting and withholding of pleasure can be far more cruel while leaving no mark," I informed her.  "You will improve your skills so that, when you find a submissive worthy of your passion, they will be helpless to resist you. I assume you agree to this?"

A flush had risen on her cheeks as he spoke. "Yes."

"Good.  You should also investigate other ways to satisfy your need for control.  For example, your gifts would allow you considerable power and influence at court."

He dismissed the girl.  She rose and made a stiff, pained obeisance to the statue of Kushiel. On the way out Melisande looked back at him, eyes bright.  "Thank you, Priest.  I shall consider your words," she said with a tiny smile.

Years later, the priest would face Kushiel's judgment for leading His scion down such a path.


End file.
